Izzo Runs Laps Around Calipari Late In Cats' Double-OT Defeat to Michigan State
John Calipari told Tom Izzo after the No. 4 Wildcats' double-overtime loss to Michigan State that Sparty was "more prepared to finish a game off than we were."
That was far too evident, as Izzo's offensive scheme trumped Kentucky's down the stretch of the second half as well as both overtime periods.
While the Wildcats took far too long to get into their offense, often resulting in a cop-out dump-down to Oscar Tshiebwe, MSU ran these things called...plays.
I know, I know. Stick with me.
While those Malik Hall slam dunks that sent the game into the first and second overtime seemed like wild defensive lapses from Tshiebwe and CJ Fredrick, give credit to Izzo, he out-coached Calipari and the Cats late.
Believe it or not, those X's and O's with the lines moving up and down his whiteboard actually mean something.
"We missed free throws where we could have separated but we rebounded better, we transitioned from where in the first half, they got seven points. We didn’t get a point in transition. Second half, we got more than they got," Calipari said. "We did enough to win the game but we were discombobulated at times. We were making calls and guys were — we just haven’t practiced together."
Kentucky led for over 33 minutes on Tuesday. While that lead never eclipsed seven points, it felt like the Wildcats had a real grip on the game. That physicality that Sparty touted was matched well on both ends of the court. UK wasn't cashing in on 3-pointers like it felt it needed, but neither was MSU. Many moments saw the Cats just one bucket away from delivering that final blow.
A Joey Hauser jumper here, a Mady Sissoko rebound there, Michigan State embodied resilience on many occasions, highlighted by Hall's pair of game-saving jams:
"No one leaves their man. The only guy that helps is the inbounder’s man and we left the guy. We tried to switch," Calipari explained.
Tried. No cigar.
Forward Lance Ware provided an unfortunate reality to Calipari on Tuesday night...Kentucky wasn't even close to being prepared for late-game situations and plays:
“Lance even said, ‘Coach, we haven’t worked on this, Maryland and touchdown and plays with 4-5 seconds to go.’ I said, ‘We haven’t had time and we haven’t had the team here."
"That's on me," Calipari continued.
Izzo improved to 2-2 against Calipari with the pair of Hall of Famers at their current respective schools.
“We haven’t accomplished nothing yet,” Izzo said. “We won a big game against a team that’s been a little hurt.”
While that may be true, the win for Sparty was a showcase of solid coaching and team continuity, something Kentucky clearly lacked on Tuesday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
More on the double-OT loss here.
Four Takeaways from the loss can be found here.
Oscar Tshiebwe provided a big reminder to the CBB world on Tuesday night. More on the NPOY's debut here.
Watch: Calipari, Tshiebwe, Wheeler talk the MSU defeat.
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